ArticleSurgical endoscopy2023
Factors influencing surgeon well-being: qualitatively exploring the joy of surgery.
Article in Surgical endoscopy, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Surgeon well-being: a systematic review of stressors, mental health, and resilience.BMC surgery · 2025Pooled it
- A National Assessment of Well-being and Mistreatment Among Academic General Surgery Faculty.Annals of surgery · 2026Article
- Surgery as a greedy job: The valorization of the worker's professionalism for women in surgery.Surgery open science · 2026Review
- A Familiar Working Environment Influences Surgeon's Stress in the Operating Room: A Multi-Specialty Prospective Cohort Study.Annals of surgery · 2026Article
- The surgical profession at a crossroads: recruitment, retention, and resilience in the Netherlands.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2025Article
- Why orthopaedics and trauma surgery loses part of its future workforce - a cross-sectional study of gender differences in medical students' specialty choice.BMC medical education · 2025Article
- The experience of surgeons treating unexplained pain after knee arthroplasty : a reflexive thematic analysis.Bone & joint open · 2025Article
- Daily physical activity habits influence surgeons' stress in the operating room: a prospective cohort study.International journal of surgery (London, England) · 2025Article
- Association Between Surgeon Stress and Major Surgical Complications.JAMA surgery · 2025Article
- [Surgeon well-being and mindfulness-A narrative review on how come, for what reason, why in times of surgeon shortage].Chirurgie (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2025Review
- Let's talk about the surgeon well-being.BMC surgery · 2024Article
- The joy of surgery: how gender influences surgeons' experiences.Surgical endoscopy · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere has been considerable research into burnout but much less into how surgeons thrive and find joy. This study, conducted by the SAGES Reimagining the Practice of Surgery Task Force, explored factors influencing surgeon well-being, the eventual goal being translating findings into tangible changes to help restore the joy in surgery.
methodsThis was a qualitative, descriptive study. Purposive sampling ensured representation across ages, genders, ethnicities, practice types, and geographies. Semi-structured interviews were recorded and transcribed. We coded inductively, finalized the codebook by consensus, and then constructed a thematic network. Global themes formed our conclusions; organizing themes gave additional detail. Analysis was facilitated by NVivo.
resultsWe interviewed 17 surgeons from the US and Canada. Total interview time was 15 hours. Our global and organizing themes were: Stressors (Work-life Integration, Administration-related Concerns, Time and Productivity Pressures, Operating Room Factors, and Lack of Respect). Satisfaction (Service, Challenge, Autonomy, Leadership, and Respect and Recognition). Support (Team, Personal Life, Leaders, and Institutions). Values (Professional and Personal). Suggestions (Individual, Practice, and System level). Values, stressors, and satisfaction influenced perspectives on support. Experiences of support shaped suggestions. All participants reported stressors and satisfiers. Surgeons at all stages enjoyed operating and being of service. Supports and suggestions included compensation and infrastructure, but human resources were most critical. To experience joy, surgeons needed high-functioning clinical teams, good leaders/mentors, and supportive family/social networks.
conclusionsOur results indicated organizations could (1) better understand surgeons' values, like autonomy; (2) provide more time for satisfiers, like patient relationship building; (3) minimize stressors, like time and financial pressures; and (4) at all levels focus on (4a) building teams and leaders and (4b) giving surgeons time and space for healthy family/social lives. Next steps include developing an assessment tool for individual institutions to build "joy improvement plans" and to inform surgical associations' advocacy efforts.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.